Springtime Sabbath

Spring is my favorite season. The girls prefer summer, which I enjoy as well; but as for pure loveliness, it's spring for me.

We are taking a break from lessons this week, and, since it is spring break for our county, we have no outside activities scheduled. We've all been needing a break, and my hope is that this week fills us with a sense of renewal, perhaps even revival. The latter may be more for me than the children, frankly.

So we talked about some plans for the week, and here is what we decided: a trip to a pottery painting studio; playing with friends; a trip to the bookstore and lunch out with some friends we haven't seen in a long time; just generally relaxing and enjoying ourselves.

For myself, I envision lounging in the hammock with a book and a glass of homemade lemonade. Perhaps Jasper will curl up beside me and snooze.

Here are the books I'm planning to read:

• Tyler's Row, by Miss Read
• I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith
• The Full Cupboard of Life, by Alexander McCall Smith

I also want to get back to blogging more regularly. I hinted in my last post about life interruptions -- which are really just parts of life themselves -- that have been the focus of my thoughts and energy lately, and I've been percolating ideas about those things in particular and how they occupied me. I've been wondering if I learned anything that I could shape into any sort of would-be wisdom to share. Probably not, but that won't stop me from sharing anyway.

Here is what I have planned not to do this break week:

• Lesson planning
• Worry about lessons or lesson planning
• Worry about anything

Here is what I've actually done thus far:

• Taken the girls to the library for a one-hour yoga retreat for Girl Scout Juniors, which was instructed by a Cadette troop as part of the Silver Award (I perused the library's shelves for reading materials and actually checked out some books for school. So I've already broken one of resolutions for the week. Alas.)
• Cleaned my bathroom
• Taken care of some laundry
• Attempted to assuage the feelings of one daughter whose friends are not available to play (while her sister biked away to spend the afternoon with a friend)

Hmmm. Do you sense a pattern, or is it just me? Many's the time when I have some free moments, an afternoon perhaps, that I fill with busy-ness: housekeeping that needs doing, chores I really must tackle, meal planning, sink scrubbing, et cetera. I sense a pattern developing, and I'm determined to stop it in its tracks.

I feel a deep need for quiet calm. I feel the need for sabbath.

The sun in shining, a breeze is blowing, and a hammock is calling my name.